This account is pending registration confirmation. Please click on the link within the confirmation email previously sent you to complete registration.Need a new registration confirmation email? Click here

Poll: Virginia Young Adults Stung By High Gas Prices, Favor Increased Production Of Coal, Gas, And Oil

Virginia Millennials rank energy dependency among top three national security issues as Presidential Election nears

WASHINGTON,
Nov. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
Generation Opportunity today released additional results from their comprehensive
Virginia-specific survey of young adults ages 18-29. The poll found that
66% of Virginia Millennials would increase production of domestic American energy sources like oil, natural gas, and coal. Only 35% indicated their approval of President Obama's handling of gas prices and 48% indicated they have to spend more to go to work because of increasing gas prices. The poll also found that 78% of young Virginians plan to vote in the presidential election and only 30% think the country is headed in the right direction. Generation Opportunity has
over 100,000 followers across the Commonwealth of Virginiaand uses a combined strategy of social media and grassroots tactics to encourage young adults to vote. The organization has over 4 million fans on Facebook and direct grassroots engagement with over a quarter million young Americans in key states including
Ohio,
Maine,
New Hampshire,
Michigan,
North Carolina,
Virginia, and
Florida.

Only 37% approve of President Obama's administration's handling of youth unemployment.

80% would decrease federal spending if given the opportunity to set America's fiscal priorities.

STATEMENT BY PAUL T. CONWAY, PRESIDENT OF GENERATION OPPORTUNITY"At a time when full-time jobs are limited and America's dependence on foreign energy poses national security risks, it makes absolutely no sense to young Virginians why President Obama, through his political appointees at the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies, would interfere with the production of energy resources in
Virginia and other states. Young adults in
Virginia have been negatively impacted by the poor national economy, limited economic opportunities, and the lack of meaningful, full-time jobs. Increasingly, their everyday lives are further complicated by high gas prices that drain cash for groceries and increase the cost of going to go to work," said
Paul T. Conway, President of Generation Opportunity and former Chief of Staff of the United States Department of Labor under Secretary
Elaine L. Chao. "In battleground states, like
Virginia, issues related to domestic energy production and high gas prices will play a key role among likely Millennial voters, especially Independents. Young voters know they are already paying the price for increased energy costs, and they reject the idea of their futures and America's security becoming even more dependent on foreign countries whose interests are often not parallel to ours."

Mr. Conway served as a Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Resources for the Commonwealth of
Virginia and worked extensively on issues related to health care reform, welfare reform, and other policy efforts designed to empower individuals through opportunity while ending cycles of dependency on government. He also served as Chief of Staff of the United States Office of Personnel Management under Director
Kay Coles James.

PLEDGE TO GO VOTEIn addition to the poll results, Generation Opportunity has launched the Pledge to GO Vote Campaign aimed at further increasing the already growing enthusiasm and interest among young adults to participate in the presidential election. Generation Opportunity is encouraging its supporters in
Virginia and other states, as well as their friends and all those within their networks, to Pledge to GO Vote. Read more about the initiative and sign the pledge here at
GenerationOpportunity.org/vote.

METHODOLOGYFor Generation Opportunity, the polling company, inc./WomanTrend, conducted a statewide online survey of 566 Virginia adults ages 18-29 between
July 27 –
August 13, 2012. Randomly selected online opt-in panel participants were sent an invitation to the survey via email, which included a secure link to the online questionnaire. Quotas were used to ensure the survey was representative of the larger 18-29 year old statewide population with regard to race, region, and gender. The data were NOT weighted. The overall sampling margin of error for the survey is +/-4.4% at a 95% confidence interval, meaning that the data obtained would not differ more than 4.4 percentage points in 95 out of 100 similar samples obtained.

ABOUT GENERATION OPPORTUNITYGeneration Opportunity is the largest non-profit, non-partisan organization in
the United States engaging and mobilizing young Americans (ages 18-29) on important economic issues facing the nation. Since its launch in June of 2011, Generation Opportunity has operated on a combined strategy of advanced social media tactics and field tactics to reach young Americans across the country.

Generation Opportunity is actively organizing young adults across America through grassroots tactics, voter registration, and voter turnout efforts in states like
Ohio,
Virginia,
Maine,
North Carolina,
Michigan, and
Florida,
engaging over a quarter million young adults. The organization's social media platforms have amassed a
total fan base ofmore than 4 million. Facebook pages post links to relevant articles and reports from sources ranging from the federal Government Accountability Office (GAO), to
The New York Times,
The Washington Post, The Brookings Institution,
The Wall Street Journal,
The Huffington Post, and The Heritage Foundation.

Product Features:

To begin commenting right away, you can log in below using your Disqus, Facebook, Twitter, OpenID or Yahoo login credentials. Alternatively, you can post a comment as a "guest" just by entering an email address. Your use of the commenting tool is subject to multiple terms of service/use and privacy policies - see here for more details.